White stork chicks hatch at WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre near Southport

Two white stork chicks have hatched at WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre for the first time.

The chicks hatched at the end of May and can be seen sat underneath mum to the right of the stork lodge in the Eco-garden.

Centre Manager, Nick Brooks, said: “The white storks are a popular attraction at Martin Mere, with twelve birds (6 female and 6 male), they are often heard before they seen as they don’t have any muscles in their voice box. They have developed the ability to clack their bills really loudly, using a throat pouch to amplify the sound, at mating time. This is the first time we have successfully hatched out chicks with these birds and our visitors already love seeing them.”

The birds arrived at Martin Mere in 2020 after being originally brought over from Poland who have a scheme to re-home storks that have become injured and unable to continue with migrations. There is a white stork reintroduction programme in Poland to release chicks throughout Europe.

Storks build a large nest out of sticks and grass, laying three to five eggs. The parents take turns to sit on them for about thirty days until they hatch. When the young hatch, they stay in the nest for a period of time.

Storks are carnivores, eating any small animals they can find. They survive well in wetland areas where their diet includes fish, amphibians, crustaceans, molluscs, small birds and mammals etc. In drier areas their diet will contain more lizards and insects, such as grasshoppers and locusts, a nutritious protein source.

Photo credit: Vivien Jambors